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On to the bedrooms, "a sort of
caravan type arrangement". Beds were tested -
"comfortable"- and the storage space beneath examined. The
foam mattress, fitted nylon bottom sheet and "Slumberdown"
quilts caused some incredulity: "What, no more `hospital corners'
and being passed as a worthy bedmaker by Ruth Harwood!" The wife
of an old scholar prodded the quilt doubtfully - "It doesn't feel
as if there is enough on to keep out the Ayton winter". The
radiator under the window and the strip of carpet between the two beds
were noted appreciatively. The wardrobe unit at the foot of each bed
has a leaf which can be lowered to form a work surface. Several
visitors expressed the thought that the male architect had not
provided enough storage space for the female student. Someone noticed
the lack of tables: "There's nowhere to put anything down".
The bedrooms are small.
("Compact" was an adjective which recurred), but every inch
of space is used to the full. "I bet it's the last time it's
tidy". "I wonder how good they are for sound". The
washbasin, complete with drip‑dry line and a mirror, hides in
one corner behind a wardrobe. "Fancy having hot and cold water in
your bedroom!" The walls are of bare rough brick which gives the
rooms "a cell-like appearance" but brightness will be added
when the occupants pin up their pictures and posters on the
conte-board so thoughtfully provided.
The white-walled corridor upstairs,
with its brilliant avoidance of an institutional straight line by
angling the entrance to each bedroom, drew unanimous approbation:
"I love the shape of this corridor"; "It's very
effective"; "Absolutely delightful". One word of
warning from a practical Mum: "These walls will soon get
dirty". An old scholar, the architect a few feet behind him,
thought the design "not bad" but he preferred Sussex
University hall of residence. He was disappointed in the finish which
was "not as good as I had hoped, considering the enormous
cost". A boy showing his mother round the girls' half said,
"This is the first and last time I'll be in here!" The
demarcation line between boys' and girls' territory is a no man's land
in the centre‑a surgery, a linen room and an emergency staircase
- access on each side being gained through a locked fire door. A pupil
was heard to interpret it as "The boys' side is divided from the
girls' side only by two doors and a minefield!"
After examining the two staff houses,
"small but well designed", the crowd trickled out. Overall
impressions were almost all highly favourable and superlatives were in
abundance. "Absolutely super; every detail perfectly worked
out". "The biggest step forward in a long time".
"A brilliant design". "Impressive". "Compact
yet spacious". "Incredible". "What a good idea to
have noisy and quiet common rooms". "Talk about a five star
luxury hotel. All it needs is a bar downstairs". "Superior
physically to any university hall". "Aren't they
lucky?" "Wot no colour T.V. !"
If the opinions expressed about Ann
Gillie's plaque were not so enthusiastic, that was to be expected. A
work in a modern art form takes time to assimilate and appreciate. It
certainly brightens up what was a rather drab wall.
After all the fuss has died down,
after the upper school have taken up residence in their
"University College" in September, and the building starts
to be taken for granted, we shall see how well Leven Hall lives up to
its "revolutionary" concept. A wise parent I spoke to would
not comment on the building yet; she said, "You have to live in a
place first".
Sylvia
Carter
The following article on Leven
Hall appeared in the Darlington and Stockton Times on the 25th July
1970. It was written by Peter Whittle, a member of staff at Ayton.
New block at Friends' School
provides privacy and community life
Few Independent schools in England
can have made such a large and radical extension to their growth as
the Friends' School, Great Ayton, has done by the opening of Leven
Hall recently.
The active involvement of architect,
staff, pupils and parents over the past seven years has resulted in a
building whose design is nearer to that of a university hall of
residence than what one has come to expect of a boarding school.
Oliver Spence, the architect, was
head boy of the school in 1959. His brief required him to accommodate
70 boarders, 30 day scholars, two single staff and two staff families
in one self-contained unit where study and leisure activities could be
successfully pursued. This he has achieved in an attractive low
building of two storeys along one of the river terraces. The staff
houses are at each end, as part of the main structure and linked by
communicating doors at both levels, yet preserving a measure of
privacy and independence.
The pupils' bedrooms in boys' and
girls' wings are arranged in an entirely novel way that dispenses with
a corridor. Instead there is a series of connected spaces that might
be considered an extension of the social amenities, since they invite
small groups to gather and talk. .Each study bedroom has its own
washbasin and is most like the sort of cabin one would expect on a
modestly priced sea cruise. The covers for the bedding and the gay
curtains were made by two members of the school staff. Again, privacy
is the keynote for the study‑bedroom.
Final responsibility for the life of
the Hall must lie with the staff, but the response from the pupils to
their new standard of living shows that they intend to establish a
code for the hall that will not prejudice a reasonable level of
individuality.
Downstairs there is no division into
boys' common rooms and girls' common rooms, the division is rather
into a quiet and a noisy end to the building. Seven study rooms with
desks, lockers and chairs for 28 day scholars are available at the
quiet end, and open on to a large, comfortably furnished area that can
be used as a reading or discussion room. Leading off this, again, are
two other rooms, one large, one smaller, which might be used for
tutorials, library, playreading and the like, quiet activities that
need to be cut off from the main open area.
The noisy end offers another open
space from which lead locker rooms, hobby rooms, a television room and
most important, the kitchen, which continues the comparison with an
ocean liner by being labelled The Galley. This will be run by the
pupils and provides facilities for making hot drinks and snacks.
How all these rooms and spaces will
be used, is of course, a matter for those who live in Leven Hall, and
it is that assumption that makes all the difference. £120,000 is no
mean sum, in a real sense the building is public property to be
enjoyed by staff and pupils who live there, used in trust by them and
passed on to future generations. Such an attitude cannot be fostered
by establishing a set of rules of conduct, nor by decreeing that such
and such a room must be used only for this or that function.
Leven Hall offers unparalleled
opportunities for a rich and balanced community life where the
different demands of work, leisure and the individual may all be met
in pleasant surroundings. The quality of that life will be determined
by the efforts of both pupils and staff:
Return to Leven
Hall - page one
Go to: Life at Leven Hall
(Now part of "School Life" section)
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